New professor at Viadrina: Jelena von Achenbach and her vision!

New professor at Viadrina: Jelena von Achenbach and her vision!

On October 1, 2025, Prof. Dr. Jelena von Achenbach will take up the professorship for public law, particularly European law, at the Viadrina Faculty of Law. She has already positioned herself as a sought-after analyst on topics such as the AfD ban process, electoral law and the European Union's defense policy. Your assessment of current legal issues is of great importance in the scientific and political community.

With a clear focus on questions of constitutional law and defense policy, von Achenbach brings a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities arising from European unification. She emphasizes that the EU represents an experiment in democracy that combines different political cultures. In her view, the EU often works better than its reputation suggests, although she also acknowledges existing problems.

Research and policy advice

Von Achenbach sees her role not as an activist, but as an advisor in politics. She is convinced that law must take precedence over politics and emphasizes the importance of being legally bound and adhering to court rulings. This is particularly relevant at a time when trust in institutional frameworks is often questioned.

As a professor at Viadrina, she plans to further expand her research areas. The pressure for reform at the university offers her leeway, which she would like to use to introduce innovative teaching formats. She attaches great importance to constant exchange and open conversations with her students in order to incorporate their ideas and perspectives into her teaching.

Academic career

Prof. Dr. Jelena von Achenbach studied law at the University of Passau and the University of Leipzig and received her doctorate from the University of Heidelberg in 2011. Her academic career took her from 2016 to 2023 as a junior professor of public law in Giessen, where she completed her habilitation in 2022. Before that, she was a professor at the University of Erfurt, where she contributed her expertise in constitutional law and defense policy.

In 2017, von Achenbach was awarded the German Bundestag Science Prize, which honors her outstanding research work on institutional Union law and the EU's defense policy. She is currently leading an interdisciplinary project together with the Technical University of Dresden on the topic of “Numerical methods in law”. Her committed work in policy advice and scientific communication underlines her influence on the scientific discussion in the area of ​​public law.

From the summer semester of 2026, she will work with students at Viadrina and prepare their teaching content during their parental leave until February 2026 to give them a special learning experience. She is particularly interested in political and democratic developments in Eastern Europe and the challenges arising from authoritarian governments.

Overall, the appointment of Prof. Dr. Jelena von Achenbach not only praised the academic's achievements at Viadrina, but also the growing importance of European law in today's political climate. Their views and analyzes could soon become decisive for the public and political debate.

For more information please visit europa-uni.de.